Translated material
Boring episode
The Italian Championship is in crisis
The consequences of Mojigate, a corruption scandal, are still affecting Italian football. More precisely, in the playing class of Serie A clubs. Last season, many ordinary spectators turned away from the Italian Championship. Fans of specific clubs, specialists and Serie A fans - all of them, of course, watched the league. Even the lack of intrigue - Inter's championship was predetermined in the middle of the season - did not affect their interest. However, not all football fans were to the taste of this “A” series.This year without Milan's points penalty, with Juventus, which returned from Serie B, with the bright Roma and the even stronger mastodon Inter, should have revived the interest of the average viewer. However, watching the tournament after a year-long pause made me take a critical look at Serie A as a whole.
Earlier in the tour, before the international break, Milan met with Lazio. Sunday evening, a match of the tour, two representatives of the country are playing in the Champions League. The score is discouraging, as is the quality of Lazio's play - 5:1. Ancelotti's team easily beats the Romans, and some of the best clubs in the country are playing. Can you imagine such a score in the game "Real" - "Sevilla" or "Arsenal" - "Chelsea"?
In the last round, Milan met Empoli, a team from the bottom of the table. The best club in Europe is the first to create a couple of scoring chances, the first to concede and continue to act sharply, but never even achieves a draw. "Empoli" fights back well and counterattacks sharply. A generally equal game between the middle and the grandees should demonstrate the high level of the championship. In theory, of course, this is true, but the quality of football makes us talk more about Milan approaching the level of Empoli than vice versa. “Milan” is an experienced, strong, but aged team. It is more dangerous in the playoff bracket, where you need to gather for individual matches, than in the long distance of the championship. To fight for victory in Serie A, Milan needs to rejuvenate its squad. And this is not the task of this season.
We also saw poor quality football in the Juventus - Genoa match. The “Old Lady”, which is in second place, is still the most Italian team in the championship. She is the one who knows how to extract maximum points from a minimum of opportunities. Trezeguet scores goals for Juve - seven goals in the championship. On the left flank, you won’t believe it, the same motor Nedved is active. Ahead, Alex Del Piero feints almost at a step. The main discovery of the season for Juve is the nimble and efficient Antonio Nocerino. In a friendly match with the South African team, he made his debut for the Italian national team. Nocerino is a good player, but he doesn’t look too natural as a Juve star yet.
The game against Genoa came down to a lot of hand-to-hand collisions, tough fights in all areas of the field and rare combinations. In one of them, Alex reacted to Nedved’s pass and sent the ball into the goal in touch from the goal line. I had to wait for the final whistle, fighting back a yawn. This slow match was so meaningless.
Roma remains the most fun team in Serie A. Fourth place in the table, a huge number of goals scored and conceded, beautiful football. Roma is not Lazio. Yes, it can lose to Manchester United in the Champions League, as it did last year, with a score of 7:1. It may lose to Inter 1:4, as happened at the end of September. But Roma can fight on equal terms with Juventus and Fiorentina, surprising them with their creativity and desire to live beautifully in this crisis-ridden society.
Roma's lack of stability is not a sign of lack of class, it is a characteristic of creative nature. You can dislike Francesco Totti as much as you like, but it is impossible not to admire the performance of the team in which he captains. “Roma” is the only top team in Italy that does not struggle with old age, does not suffer on the field for results, but simply plays great football.
There is, of course, Inter, the leader of the tournament and the full champion of last season. The Milanese are unlike anyone else in Serie A. In it, they seem like a rich, slightly bored gentleman, who has already proven everything in his homeland and is looking towards new, continental successes. Inter is the only team that does not have serious problems. A club with two squads, with a staged game, with a terrible force dormant inside. When necessary, Inter can explode and crush almost any opponent with its power. The main thing is not to oversleep this moment. The existence of an undisputed leader in a league where all historical leaders suffer from problems kills intrigue, and therefore makes the championship even more boring.
Results. Italian Championship. 8th round. "Roma" - "Napoli" - 4:4, "Regina" - "Inter" - 0:1, "Atalanta" - "Torino" - 2:2, "Cagliari" - "Catania" -- 1:1, Fiorentina -- Siena -- 3:0, Livorno -- Lazio -- 0:1, Milan -- Empoli -- 0:1, Sampdoria "- Parma - 3:0, Udinese - Palermo - 1:1, Juventus - Genoa - 1:0.
Italian Championship
| 1. Inter | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 17--5 | 20 |
| 2. Juventus | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 17--7 | 17 |
| 3. Fiorentina | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 16--7 | 16 |
| 4. Roma | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 19--12 | 15 |
| 5. "Palermo" | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11--11 | 12 |
| 6. Genoa | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8--8 | 12 |
| 7. Udinese | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9--11 | 12 |
| 8. Napoli | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 14--10 | 11 |
| 9. Sampdoria | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8--7 | 11 |
| 10. Atalanta | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 10--10 | 11 |
| 11. Milan | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 13--8 | 10 |
| 12. Lazio | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 9--11 | 10 |
| 13. "Catania" | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 6--7 | 10 |
| 14. Torino | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 9--11 | 8 |
| 15. Cagliari | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8--11 | 8 |
| 16. "Empoli" | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5--10 | 8 |
| 17. "Siena" | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7--12 | 6 |
| 18. "Parma" | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7--14 | 6 |
| 19. "Regina" | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 5--14 | 4 |
| 20. Livorno | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6--18 | 2 |